The int'l players union, FIFPro, "has issued a damning indictment of the exploitation of minors in South American football, urging FIFA to take action and demanding a complete overhaul of the practice," according to Andrew Warshaw of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. FIFPro's concern "follows alarming findings in a book entitled Niños Futbolistas (Boy Footballers) published by Chilean investigative journalist Juan Pablo Meneses which reports that many players aged 12 or younger are being bought by agents, who then transfer them to Europe."
For more than two years, Meneses "investigated the treatment of talented child footballers, visiting nine South American countries, including Argentina and Brazil, to gather as much information as possible on how best to buy a promising youngster who could later be sold to a club in Europe" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 10/21).